Outrage

A Saturday Night Live (SNL) castmember who acted alongside Dakota Johnson in a controversial sketch about terrorist group ISIS has come to the actress' defense after the skit sparked outrage.
The Fifty Shades of Grey star joined the cast of the U.S. comedy show on Saturday night (28Feb15) to take part in a number of sketches, and in one scene she took on the role of a woman who leaves her family to join the feared terror cell. The skit sparked a major furor online, with many critics branding it tasteless and offensive, but SNL star Taran Killam, who played Johnson's onscreen father in the sketch, has now spoken out to defend his co-star and the show's writers.
In a post on Twitter.com, Killam shared a video of the TV moment, and added, "Proud of this. Freedom to mock is our greatest weapon. Thanks to the writers who asked not to be mentioned by name."

William Shatner has turned his Twitter.com page into a memorial site for his late friend and colleague Leonard Nimoy after explaining to fans he won't be able to make it to his Star Trek sidekick's funeral in Los Angeles. Shatner was forced to miss Nimoy's funeral on Sunday (01Mar15) due to a prior charity gala commitment in Florida, and told fans he would not have enough time to fly across the U.S. to make the memorial.
He took to Twitter.com to express his disappointment on Saturday (28Feb15), writing, "I feel really awful. Here I am doing charity work and one of my dearest friends is being buried."
The tweet sparked outrage among some followers, who felt Shatner should have abandoned the gala in favour of his friend's funeral, prompting the actor to explain his decision.
When one fan wrote, "I can't imagine Shatner not moving heaven & earth to get to Nimoy's funeral", he responded, "I chose to honor a commitment I made months ago to appear at a charitable fundraiser. A lot of money was raised. So here I am; tell me off."
Editors of The New York Daily News even labeled Shatner as "Captain Jerk" on the front page of its Sunday issue, and the actor reposted the link on his Twitter page, noting, "You know what I find puzzling. The headline is horrible but the article contradicts it," since the piece was titled, "William Shatner reveals he will miss Leonard Nimoy's funeral: 'I feel really awful'".
Shatner also took aim at radio host Todd Schnitt, who blasted Shatner for skipping the event, adding, "I must have missed your email about underwriting the arrangement and payment for this (charity event)... So has Mr. Moneybags @toddschnitt made his donation yet to the @RedCross? A jet from FL to LA is about $30K in the name of #LeonardNimoy pls (please)."
The actor added, "One of the other misconceptions seems to be that folks think flights to LAX (airport) occur all night long."
Shatner spent much of the rest of the weekend memorialising Nimoy on Twitter and answering followers' questions about what it was like working with Leonard Nimoy, who passed away on Friday (27Feb15), aged 83.
Following the question and answer session, Shatner wrote, "I do want to thank everyone for coming here and sharing their memories and celebrating the life of #LeonardNimoy LLAP (Live long and prosper)!"
Although Shatner missed the funeral in Los Angeles, he pointed out that his two daughters attended the memorial for Nimoy, whom Shatner noted was "an amazing uncle" to his kids.

Bosses at U.K. network ITV have defended their decision to censor the majority of Kanye West's BRIT Awards performance on Wednesday night (25Feb15) due to his explicit lyrics. The Gold Digger hitmaker performed his new track All Day at the music ceremony in London but viewers of the live TV broadcast in the U.K. complained that the sound had been muted throughout most of the song to remove the offensive language.
Many fans on Twitter.com expressed outrage that West had been allowed to perform the explicit track if it was going to be censored, while others noted that ITV bosses still failed to mute all the swear words.
However, a representative for the channel has now defended the coverage, telling Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper, "The BRITs is broadcast live on ITV from 8pm to a wide audience. We have a time delay to allow us to mute language that may be inappropriate, and elected to do so, given the performance took place shortly after the 9pm watershed."
West was reportedly drafted in as a performer at the last minute after Rihanna dropped out.

Fans of R&B star Ciara were left outraged after the singer arrived late and cut her recent Christchurch, New Zealand gig short because of "technical difficulties". The Goodies hitmaker was slated to perform at the University of Canterbury for 1,500 fans, but hit the stage 90 minutes late, according to multiple reports, and then walked off after a 10-minute set.
While it is not clear what caused the singer's delay, a representative for the University Students' Association said the star was forced to leave the stage due to a noise curfew.
Fans who waited hours for the singer to perform took to social media to express their outrage, with one user writing, "but u performed for, like, 8 minutes and didn't even show up to the meet n greet", while a university student told Radio New Zealand News, "You expect someone to perform a good set... You don’t expect to pay money to see someone perform five songs... It was a bit of a scam that she came on in the end at all."
Other concertgoers reportedly threw beer and soda cans onstage while the crowd booed Ciara after she walked off.
A representative from the touring company in charge of the concert has posted a statement on Facebook apologising, adding, "The Event Team wish to apologize for the events which took place last night, although it was outside our control we are truly sorry.
"We, like you, are disappointed that the headline act was unable to perform as we had been assured they would from the booking agent. We want to reassure all Meet & Great (sic) ticket holders that you will receive a full refund. We are also happy to negotiate part refunds for other ticket holders."
As for Ciara, she did not apologise for the short gig, and suggested the hour-and-a-half delay was out of her control.
Taking to Twitter to briefly address the gig drama, she wrote, "I am so happy I got to see my fans in New Zealand for the first time! THANK YOU for rocking with me, despite the technical difficulties."

Kanye West's former stage invasion victim Taylor Swift gave the rapper her approval just moments after he performed a similar stunt during Beck's acceptance speech at the Grammy Awards. West hit headlines in 2009 when he stormed the stage at the MTV Video Music Awards to protest against Swift's win over his pal Beyonce, and he appeared to repeat the feat at Sunday night's (08Feb15) Grammys.
West took to the stage as Beck accepted the Album of the Year prize to express his outrage that Beyonce had not won, and the hip-hop star has now revealed Swift ran straight over to him after he returned to his seat and gave him her blessing.
He tells U.S. DJ Ryan Seacrest, "You know Taylor Swift came up to me right afterwards, literally right afterwards, and tells me I should have gone on stage."
The pair patched up their friendship after the VMAs incident, and are now hoping to work together.
The interview aired in the U.K. on Heat Radio on Thursday (12Feb15).

British pop star Pixie Lott has come under fire from fans for selling pricey $160 (£100) tickets to a gig in a pizza restaurant and failing to throw in dinner. The Mama Do hitmaker is to perform four intimate shows at a branch of Pizza Express in central London next month (Mar15), but she is facing criticism over the top-priced tickets, which cost around $160.
Fans have gone online to complain about the hefty price tag, and many have expressed outrage that the "expensive" tickets don't even include a pizza dinner.
Others were made available at lower prices, including a $56 (£35) standing ticket which does not include a seat in the restaurant.

A live TV bondage trial inspired by saucy movie Fifty Shades Of Grey has sparked outrage among viewers in the U.K.
During Tuesday's (03Feb15) episode of British chat show This Morning, the program's hosts were shown an array of sex toys like those owned by Christian Grey, the bondage-loving character played by Jamie Dornan in the film adaptation of E.L. James' erotic novel. The Bondage for Beginners segment also featured a 'Ladies of Leather' panel, during which three women were asked to test and rate the products, and shots of underwear models tied to a bed. A total of 70 outraged viewers contacted British regulatory body Ofcom to complain about the Fifty Shades Of Grey piece, prompting a spokesman for ITV, the network behind the show, to speak out in its defense.
The ITV representative says, "This Morning is a lifestyle program that covers a diverse range of human interest topics. The program has dealt with advice on sexual matters many times in the part, and a suitable announcement was given at the start."
The movie adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey hits cinemas next week (beg09Feb15).

Selma star David Oyelowo has put his Oscars snub down to ongoing race issues in Hollywood. The civil rights drama landed a Best Picture nod when the Academy Awards nominations were announced last month (Jan15), but the Brit, who played Martin Luther King, Jr., was left out of the Best Actor shortlist.
Selma's Ava DuVernay was also shut out of the running for Best Director, and the double snub sparked outrage as both categories are dominated by white contenders, prompting critics to launch an online campaign under the slogan #OscarsSoWhite.
Oyelowo was asked about the controversy during an appearance at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in California over the weekend (31Jan15-01Feb15), and he insisted black actors are not given enough credit for playing leaders.
In video footage shot during a question-and-answer session, Oyelowo tells the audience, "Look, historically - this is truly my feeling, I felt this before the situation we're talking about and I feel it now - generally speaking, we, as black people, have been celebrated more for when we are subservient, when we are not being leaders or kings or being at the centre of our own narrative... Denzel Washington should have won for playing Malcolm X... So this bears out what I'm saying, which is we've just got to come to the point whereby there isn't a self-fulfilling prophecy - a notion of who black people are - that feeds into what we are celebrated as, not just in the Academy, but in life generally. We have been slaves, we have been domestic servants, we have been criminals, we have been all of those things. But we have been leaders, we have been kings, we have been those who changed the world."
Washington missed out on an Oscar for playing the title role in 1992 civil rights biopic Malcolm X, but he won Academy Awards for both Training Day and Glory.

Officials in Arizona have denied allegations they broke protocol by giving Kanye West and his wife Kim Kardashian a police escort to the Super Bowl. Video footage published online appears to show two motorcycles with flashing lights tailing the couple's motorcade as they make their way to the University of Phoenix Stadium for the big football game on Sunday (01Feb15).
The film sparked outrage among online critics, who accused local authorities of wasting police resources by giving a security detail to the stars, but a representative for the Phoenix Police Department has now insisted the motorcycle security convoy was nothing to do with cops.
Spokesman Trent Crump tells the New York Daily News, "That was not done by us, but they could hire private security or off-duty officers... (There are) dozens and dozens of agencies (that could provide this kind of private security)."

R&B star D'angelo joined the protest surrounding the 2014 death of Eric Garner during his performance on Saturday Night Live in America on Saturday (31Jan15) by taking a moment to remember the tragic New Yorker during his two-song set. Garner was strangled to death during a police arrest in Staten Island, New York, last summer (Jul14), and a grand jury's decision not to indict the cops responsible sparked outrage and protests throughout the U.S. in December (14).
The interaction between the unarmed African-American and police officers was caught on camera and Garner could be heard saying, "I can't breathe" repeatedly before he passed away, lying facedown on the sidewalk.
Medical examiners concluded that Garner was killed by "compression of neck, compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police". His death was ruled a homicide.
During his performance of The Charade on Saturday Night Live, D'Angelo sang, "All we wanted was a chance to talk, instead we only got outlined in chalk," while he and his back-up singers and bandmates wore T-shirts sporting the words "black lives matter" and "I can't breathe".

Synopsis

Tom and Sally Casey's lives take a dramatic turn after several prep school students, including a boy named Jeffrey, break into Tom's car and steal a gun he keeps hidden under the seat. The teens are caught but quickly released, while Tom is sent to jail for 30 days for possession of an unlicensed firearm. After Tom is released, Jeffrey begins to make threatening phone calls to Sally. A dangerous game of wits ensues between Tom and Jeffrey, who, as a teen, seems to be protected by the law.